Innovation Flow

My daughter's high school science book says that Edison is the Inventor of the Electric Bulb - but that's not true. When Edison started his research on the incandescent bulb, It was known for more than 60 years that passing a current through a filament will make it glow. It took a series of breakthrough inventions for Edison to demonstrate a bulb that could work for 100 hours. He applied for a patent as soon as he reached this milestone and got one. But he didn't stop here. A fter inventing the incandescent bulb, he asked what do my customers need to use this product - they need electricity - How do I generate and safely distribute Electricity (just like the way gas was distributed at that time) ? If he had not asked this critical question (though it may appear obvious now), the ecosystem would not have been ready to receive his innovation. Posterity would say that his innovation was ahead of its time. By thinking about the infrastructure that is needed for his inven...